|
|
|
| NEWS > 16 March 2007 |
Other related articles:
Blair rejects 'Muslim police s
Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed a claim that Britain is a "police state" for Muslims, made by a man released without charge after anti-terror raids last week.
Abu Bakr, one of nine men arrested last Wednesday, alleged "draconian" treatment and claimed the swoop aimed to divert attention from the "cash-for-honours" investigation overshadowing Blair's final months in office.
But Blair's official spokesman criticised his comments, labelling claims of a police state a "gross caricature", while a senior Cabinet minister said they were "utter nonsense".
Bakr, who... Read more
|
 Article sourced from
|
|
Voice of America - USA
16 March 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
|
|
Police Killing Sparks Strike i
The Indian state of West Bengal has been hit by an opposition-backed general strike to protest police shooting in which 14 villagers were killed. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the communist-ruled state has witnessed violent protests in recent months by farmers opposing government plans to acquire land to create industrial hubs.
Schools, colleges and offices shut across West Bengal state, and transport stayed off the roads as an opposition alliance enforced a daylong shutdown on Friday.
Sporadic clashes erupted between police and opposition activists as protesters staged street marches in Kolkata and elsewhere, shouting slogans against the state's communist government. Police say several state-run buses were stoned.
The strike was called two days after 14 villagers were killed and scores injured when police fired on farmers in Nandigram district. Police were trying to break up angry mobs that were pelting them with stones and homemade bombs.
Villagers and political activists there have been leading violent protests against plans to acquire farmland to establish a chemical hub and industrial park. They have set up roadblocks and destroyed bridges to prevent officials and policemen from entering the area.
The protests have continued since January despite a state government pledge to shift the proposed special economic zone if villagers do not want it.
Junior federal Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal says that the state government is taking steps to tackle the unrest. He said the West Bengal government is hopeful that peace will be restored to the region soon.
The issue of land acquisition became controversial after the West Bengal government decided to turn over thousands of acres of farmland to private industries. The communist government wants to woo private investment to improve the economy of the state, which businesses have shunned for decades due to militant trade unions.
But farmers say they will be displaced and left without a livelihood if their land is taken away.
The violent protests by farmers in West Bengal have turned the spotlight on the federal government's plans to establish hundreds of special economic zones throughout the country. Critics are questioning the merits of handing over agricultural land to businesses in a country where agriculture sustains two thirds of the one billion people.
A worried federal government has put the policy on hold for the time being.
Meanwhile, angry opposition lawmakers disrupted Parliament for a second straight day on Friday demanding that the federal government send an all-party delegation to West Bengal to investigate the recent killings of villagers.
|
| |
 EiP Comments:
|
|---|
|
| |
* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications |
|
| |
|
